First, I would say that in the grander scheme of the story, this was not a throwaway episode. It seemed to set up some conflict between the Losties and the DHARMA Initiative (DI) folks. It also asked the question, "Why were they supposed to come back if it will only cause trouble?"
That being said, I found this to be a weak, if not irritating, episode. There have been few Sayid-centric episodes that have really added depth to his character and it just seems like we keep getting told "Sayid's capable of killing but has a heart of gold!" just as often as we're told "Jack's old man was an ass and therefore Jack has Daddy issues!”
I also was very disappointed in William Sanderson’s performance as Oldham. I have seen Sanderson in other roles, not the least of which was Larry of the infamous “Larry, Darryl and Darryl,” and I have considered him to be an adequate, if not good, actor. However, I felt like he was wooden and poorly spoken throughout his scene. I wasn’t convinced of anything other than the director grabbed some guy off the street and said “Read these lines!” and that’s what happened.
I decided long ago (actually, just after I saw “The Long Con”) that when these types of episodes happened, I would just trust the creators and hope for a better episode the next week. So that’s what I am going to do!
Other interesting thoughts from He’s Our You:
- Sayid “created” evil Ben in killing him as a child. The Others took Ben’s body and was “resurrected.” But this resurrected Ben was changed. If Sayid hadn’t killed young Ben, Ben wouldn’t have grown up to be the way he was. (This is Nathan’s big theory and I like it!)
- Interesting note: both Sayid and Mr. Eko killed someone/something for another person to spare them the trauma (possibly both were brothers?).
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1 comments:
Lucinda said...
My only comment about this episode (in part b/c it has been so long since I saw it) is that it reminded me of the Lord of the Flies implications, not revisited too much since Season 1. When stranded, a small community nearly always - in fictional accounts, anyway - reverts to a savage, tribal mentality. This was all the more jarring to see in the DI, considering that they were all peace, light, and hippie happiness in purpose and appearance. Yet even there, there are power struggles, alpha dogs, torturers, and punishment by death.
I wonder how it plays out in reality.